Rest compartments (accommodation compartments)for the crew (crew) of an aircraft are also referred to as Crew Rest Compartments (CRC) or, if provided for use by the flight crew (flight crew), FCRC and form part of the prescribed mandatory equipment of aircraft on long-duration flights. According to international standards, one reclining accommodation is required for flights with a flight time between 8 h and 14 h and two reclining accommodations are required for flights with a flight time of more than 14 h.
Conventional CRC and FCRC are realized with reclining options, work and rest stations in various combinations and spatial orientations, for example, in the ceiling area or crown area of the aircraft, i.e., above the area that is accessible to passengers. In this case, the compartments are referred to as overhead compartments.
In order to reach this area of the compartments from the main deck of an aircraft, climbing aids such as stairs with corresponding stairwells are provided. If an in-flight emergency situation arises, in which a user needs to quickly and safely escape from the compartment, the utilization of an emergency exit hatch is indispensable.
In this context, one basic problem can be seen in that only a confined installation space can be made available for these compartments and therefore also the emergency exits situated therein because the space in an aircraft is limited.
In order to realize sufficient and safe headroom, particularly in the upper passenger area, the dimensions and installation volumes of the compartments are frequently minimized in many areas.
Known solutions of emergency exit hatches have a significant installation height that directly affects the headroom in the passenger area and the comfort in the compartments. This can cause an additional weight component in the aircraft.
It is furthermore required to provide other options for accessing or entering such compartments, e.g., overhead compartments. The reason for this can be seen in that the aircraft may, after a possible accident, be deformed in such a way that it is no longer possible to conventionally exit the compartment via the provided stairs or the conventional exit area and crew members could become trapped in the compartment.
Emergency hatches known so far are also in need of improvement with respect to the fact that the actuation of an emergency exit by unauthorized persons is prevented and only authorized persons can operate and use the mechanism.